Lamborghini Electrifies its First SUV with the Urus SE

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

SUVs make the automotive world go round, so much so that even exotic automakers are now in the game. Lamborghini was one of the first with the Urus, and the company recently announced an update to its hot family hauler with the Urus SE, the first plug-in hybrid SUV in the performance segment.


Lamborghini held a private unveiling event in New York, with CEO Stephan Winkelmann and others in attendance. The SUV retains its rowdy twin-turbo V8 and pairs it with a 24-kWh battery pack and electric motors to make a combined 789 horsepower. Its 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time is down to just 3.4 seconds, cutting a tenth off the gas-only model’s time. It also offers more than 37 miles of all-electric range.


The new Urus SE will go on sale in late 2024, and Lambo plans to launch another “HPEV” (high-performance electrified vehicle) to replace the Huracan around the same time. Lamborghini’s sales have been setting records in recent years, with the automaker seeing its best periods ever in North America, its top market region. The Urus has bolstered Lambo’s bottom line, growing from 5,367 units globally in 2022 to more than 6,000 last year. The Huracan also saw a record year, with almost 4,000 deliveries in 2023.


While electrification probably comes as a bummer for hardcore enthusiasts, it’s not like Lamborghini is giving up on speed. The Urus SE’s electric motor is integrated with its eight-speed transmission, boosting power and improving four-wheel drive performance. The only loss is sound at low speeds, which might actually improve owners’ standings with their homeowners’ associations.


[Image: Lamborghini]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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  • IBx1 IBx1 on May 01, 2024

    “Dare to live more”

    -company that went from making the Countach and Diablo to an Audi crossover with an Audi engine and only pathetic automatic garabge


    ”live mas”

    -taco bell

  • Add Lightness Add Lightness on May 02, 2024

    Lots of Eye rolling with the Urus.

    Less eye rolling with the equally useless (or should I say underutilized) LM002.

  • Redapple2 All this BEV investment. A bigger impact (less oil consumption) would have been made if we had made PIG UP trucks smaller since 2000 and not HUGEr. (And raised gas tax by $2-3/gallon.)
  • ChristianWimmer One of my clients is a company that is actually producing eFuels in Leipzig. Yes, they require a lot of energy to produce but this would not be an issue if Germany had nuclear energy or used the excess energy from wind and solar to produce these fuels. In such a scenario the energy losses wouldn’t really matter.Also, I am told that nations like Spain or the North African nations like Morocco or Tunisia could be ideal places to produce eFuels/Hydrogen due to their abundance of solar power. Again, the energy loses here would not matter since the energy used to produce these fuels is essentially “free”. If this path were pursued, Morocco and Tunisia could become wealthy nations and exporters of eFuels and Hydrogen. Countries with an abundance of solar or wind or hydro energy could be producing eFuels for their domestic consumption and export.Another argument which to me is irrelevant these days ist the poor thermal efficiency of ICE engines (25-35% gasoline, 40-45% diesel). One long trips with cruise control set to 130 km/h and even the occasional venture into the 180-200 km/h zone, my fully loaded (with my gear) A250 (2.0 4-cylinder 224-hp Turbo) can achieve an impressive gas mileage of 6 L / 100 km. That’s phenomenal - I am looking at six 1 liter bottles of water right now and that’s all my car needs to travel 100 km… amazing.So, I am a supporter of eFuels. I love internal combustion engines and if we want to use them in a climate neural way, then eFuels are a must. Also, to me every ICE car is way more sustainable and longer-lasting an an EV. Mazda, Toyota etc. are making the right move IMO.
  • Blueice Once you infuse governmental unit regulation & [marketing] and taxpayerfunding, one knows quite well, dat the product or service isdestine to fail; which includes battery vehicles. Just axe yourself how revolutionary have your home batterydevices become ??? I am still waiting. after three decades, for a battery shaver whichonly requires charging two or three times per year.I am glad that I do not have a plug in Frau.
  • Tassos Such a heavy breadvan on stilts, with so much HP, AND with ONLY 100 KWH Battery, I doubt if you will ever see 250 miles, let alone 300, under the best of conditions. In the winter, count on 150 miles range.And NO, it looks TERRIBLE. The only SUV that looks great is the RANGE ROVER.
  • Tassos They sure are doing the right thing in the SHORT and MEDIUM term.As for the long term, in the long run, YOU'LL ALL BE DEAD, so WHO CARES.
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